Pelagia cruise 2018 part two

After our crew had left us in Leixoes near Porto we had to wait another three days before conditions were suitable to leave for our next port of call which would be Viana de Castelo, our last port in Portugal. At last the weather seemed to be warming up on this coast and we set off with a good prospect of fine weather. Leaving early again so we could avoid the strong north westerly afternoon winds, we set off at first light. We experienced variable conditions with some sailing and some pure motoring. Sailing this coast is a nightmare because of all the fishing marks, often small, barely visible but a serious hazard if you picked up a rope on your propeller. You sit with your eyes glued to the water ahead ready to deviate to avoid them and it can be very tiring. We  arrived in Viana after 34.7 miles in hot sunshine and tied onto the waiting pontoon in the river just downstream of the road and rail bridge designed by Eiffel. I eventually found the marina attendant and had a long walk to the office even after he had managed to get the pedestrian footbridge working. He apologised for the bridge but said it was because this was their first hot day of the year and it had stuck! Viana is a picturesque town with many 16 th century buildings. We were fortunate enough to be in the town at the time of their flower festival and every shop was adorned with floral creations in a kaleidoscope of colour, which enhanced the appearance of every street. 

The English first traded here selling fishing nets to the locals and in return buying Portuguese wine, ( sounds like a good deal to me ). It was here that Port wine was first developed but owing to the river silting up, the trade moved to the city of Porto on the Douro river where the Port trade now flourishes.

Another dawn start for us was made slightly more difficult because a French yacht had tied next to us in the night, but they awoke to my knocks and pleasantly moved their boat. We had another 35 miles to go to Bayona in Spain. 

The trip started with the usual 2 metre swell and no wind but as we approached the entrance to the Minho river, the Portuguese Spanish border, a wind off the shore swept out at force six and speeded us on our way. It later faded away again and the sea flattened as we turned into the large sheltered bay in which Bayona sits. We arrived early afternoon having logged  33.1 miles. We had been here twice before and it was good to renew our acquaintance with the attractive town set in the shelter of the old fortress. 

This was the town to which Christopher Columbus returned in 1493 having discovered the new World in the Caribbean and a replica of his ship the Pinta resides here. The weather was warm and sunny and we enjoyed walking the narrow streets off the waterfront. We had also made good progress and could swap our Portuguese courtesy flag for the Spanish one. 

It looked as if we had a forecast weather window for the next four days to get us to La Coruna so we decided as we were both tired to do a shorter leg the next day and start later. It would also be within the more sheltered waters of the Rias, the deep river estuaries on this coast protected by offlying islands. The Marina at Sangenjo was our chosen destination and our course took us winding through the islands and up to the little holiday town and beach on the north coast of one of the Rias. We sailed 18.5 miles on seas with low swell and sunshine to accompany us.  We had been warned that this holiday town was noted for its noisy night clubs and indeed we had been here seven years ago to experience it. It was a huge marina and not very busy although it did fill up later that night as it was a Saturday. The town beach was crowded with sun worshipers enjoying the summer sun at last! It is a fabulous protected sandy beach but the backdrop of unsightly houses ruins the image. 

We went to bed early for another early start the next day and managed to get some hours sleep in before the night club noise woke us and continued until 0500 hours when we got up.

We had spotted in  Reeds nautical almanac that a new marina had opened in Muros town and it was a quaint old town on the north shore of the Muros Ria. This would be our next logical step north before Finisterre and the right distance. The course had to be carefully plotted so as to pass through some narrow channels through the islands. Setting off again at dawn we motored to the first narrow channel and then a good wind came up on our starboard beam at force five to six and we flew along at up to 7.4 knots for half the trip. We managed to keep a favourable breeze almost all the way to Muros where we arrived early afternoon in a lovely, almost empty new marina having logged 32.1 miles. At one point a racing pigeon landed on our stern seat obviously in need of rest and settled down to sleep whilst we carried him further north. He was obviously a nautical pigeon because he had a red tag on his left leg and a green tag on his right leg! 

He stayed there until I disturbed him when getting our fenders out of the stern locker, at which point he reluctantly flew to the shore. There were some fishing marks to avoid but not nearly as many as in Portugal. Muros town looked quaint but upon inspection is was run down and lacking in care. Some lovely old buildings were set amongst newer blocks that spoiled the appearance. 

Another early start to leave the marina at first light was planned to do the next big challenge and get around  Finisterre point, up to the Ria of Camarinas.  Sadly the sky was overcast and it was very cool, but the winds were forecast to be southerly in our favour. Within a short distance of leaving the wind came up in the right direction and we were able to sail towards Finisterre point. This is now the third time we have passed Finisterre and on the last occasion the weather was good enough to anchor behind and walk up to the lighthouse, but not in today’s conditions. 

Having made good time to the point we turned north around the headland and indeed the wind treated us kindly and turned with us. We therefore had a romping sail past Finisterre at up to 8 knots in a rare but welcome south easterly breeze. We made good time to the Ria Camarinas where we docked in the port of Muxia. The marina was virtually empty and almost new which makes you wonder why they put us on a berth as far from the office and facilities as possible! They were very pleasant and helpful and we had time to walk the town and do some shopping. Spain insists on having their siestas and shops close in the afternoon and reopen from five to nine p.m. which is good for us but I would not like to work those hours.

Our final leg of this stage was to be 50 miles around the north west coast of Spain to La Coruna. The forecast was for easterly winds, light and backing to the north as the day progressed. Again we set off at first light and the sky was clear but with low grey cloud gradually spreading in from the sea. We hoped it was not going to be foggy again. We motor sailed in the light winds as we progressed north and then north east. The wind never got above force 2 and the swell was just small and lazy. We passed many yachts making their way south to the sun but only one other going our way. As usual there were many fishing buoys to avoid, most of them little more than a couple of old plastic bottles and hard to spot. We nearly ran into what we thought was a net as it consisted of six small orange floats in a circle very close to one another. Fortunately we saw them and quickly turned to pass them safely. At one time I saw what I thought was a black stick just lifting out of the water occasionally directly in front and after a swift course change we passed alongside it only to see that it was a small sunfish basking on the surface and waving a fin at us. These weird fish can grow up to two metres across and weigh over a ton but this was a small one and the only one we have ever seen. The weather gradually cleared to sunshine and the visibility improved as we coasted along the north coast to the point where the Torres de Hercules lighthouse marks La Coruna bay. This lighthouse was started by the Romans and is the oldest working lighthouse in the World. We had been watching the sea carefully for eight hours and when we docked having logged 49.4 miles we were both pretty tired. 

This ended the second part of our trip home and we wait here for Beverly and Ann to join us for the Biscay crossing to Ireland. We have logged 504 miles so far this trip and apart from getting a few things fixed on the boat we intend to get some rest for a few days.

Chris

Pelagia cruise; 2018 part 1

Pelagia had wintered in the water in the marina at Lagos, Portugal. Pat and I returned to her late April to ready her for the return trip to the UK. Sailing north up the coast of Portugal is challenging because the prevailing winds are northerly and the swell in the Atlantic water can be huge. It is normally better to start early in  the year before the heat builds in Spain and generates the northerly trade winds. So it was the end of April that we planned to leave. James Dick  joined us as crew for the first two weeks and we prepared to leave on Sunday 30 th April. In spite of a reasonable forecast, we awoke to a cloudy day but still checked out of the marina to leave. Heavy rain started and we held our departure for an hour until it stopped. We do not like sailing the Portuguese coast at night because of a plethora of fishing marks unlit, one of which we fouled last season at night off Faro. Therefore our first leg to the port of Sines was done over two days firstly going to an anchorage just close behind Cape St Vincent, in the bay of Sagres. Then doing the 60 miles to Sines the next day. The 16 miles to Sagres was calm and gradually the sky cleared to sun. At the anchorage we tucked in as close to the beach as possible to avoid the swell rolling around Cape St Vincent and we had a good nights sleep. 

Setting off at first light we rounded the Cape and met the large swell of about 3 metres rolling in from the north west but with some confused cross seas. As we set course northwards the swell settled a little and we sailed in a force four wind for some distance up the coast. The day was partly overcast but cleared to sunshine later. The wind increased to force five then six and finally seven with increasing wave height accordingly. The seas were unpredictable and breaking, many of which broke right over the deck, the water washing up to the windscreen and over the top. One wave washed our starboard bow navigation light off its bracket and it was dangling by its wire, leaping into the air as each successive wave hit it. I thought we would lose the light as the wire chaffed through, but it was too rough to attempt to recover it at this stage. We entered Sines harbour in awful conditions but very relieved after a 12 hour passage. The light was still hanging and when I cleaned it, dried it, and remounted it, the light still worked! What wonderfully strong bulbs they make for these lights!

A good sleep berthed in the sheltered marina was terminated early so we could leave for Cascais, another 50 mile sail. Luckily the wind had died and the swell reduced to manageable proportions. We motored until a light wind enabled us to sail for an hour then motored the rest of the way. The sky was jet black in places with cloud forming into heavy showers and some water spouts forming in the distance. We only caught a short shower and by the time we entered Cascais harbour near Lisbon it was sunny. The weather turned very windy with large swells and we stayed in Cascais for three nights awaiting the next weather window. Cascais is a picturesque town with attractive gardens and buildings so it was no hardship to stay there. It also has good shops to restock supplies for the next legs.

Lighter winds and reduced swell was forecast for the Friday so we again left early for the 45 mile sail to Peniche. Sailing around Cabo Roca was choppy but nothing too bad and we settled into the sail north, motor sailing in light winds. The day was bright and sunny although still far from warm and we managed some sailing as light winds set in. Arriving in Peniche we tied to the long visitors pontoon in the harbour which now seemed to be used more by local boats and fishing trip boats than visiting yachts. The few yachts that did arrive rafted outside us for the night.  The harbour is poor and run down, in spite of which they still managed to charge us 22 euros for nothing other than the pontoon space! 

The morning dawned bright but with a very heavy wet dew and little wind. Some of the boats had already left without paying and the harbour master ranted and raved about this as we left and threatened to have them caught at their next port. We motored north around Cabo Carvoeira and towards Nazare in very light winds and low heaving swell. It was a sunny but cool day and as a light breeze wafted in from the sea we could see that mist was coming on with it. A yacht not too far from us disappeared in the mist and gradually it closed around us, obscuring the view of the coast and everything around. Visibility was only 100 yards and with many fishing marks around we had our work cut out to spot them and avoid catching the ropes. We had about five miles to go to Nazare harbour and using the chart plotter we piloted our way to the harbour piers which appeared thankfully in front of us at about 50 yards after a trip of 23 miles.

Nazare had changed since our previous experience with mad Mike the marina master and the yacht club marina gave us a much improved berth with good facilities and cheaper than Peniche! 

Nazare is World renown for the surfing championships because it has some of the biggest surf rollers in  the World at 30 metres when the conditions are right. Luckily there was no such surf when we arrived. There were more cars parked around the harbour than we believed possible and we wondered why until we learnt that there was intended to be a procession of boats for “Men of the Sea” festival, but it was on hold until the fog cleared. Apparently families draw lots to decide which religious icon they can carry on their boat. The icon is then paraded through town on a float with garlands of flowers, transferred to a decorated fishing boat and taken out to sea for three circuits of the bay. The icons are taken out in strict order following the traditions of centuries. More and more people arrived in the town and thronged the harbour walls, so luckily the fog lifted and the boats put out to sea for the parade accompanied with horns blaring and music playing. We were fortunate to see it all and to see how seriously the locals took this religious festival, a bit like the blessing of the boats in the UK.

When we arose the next morning it was foggy in spite of a forecast for good visibility so we delayed departure to see if it cleared. After about an hour it seemed to lift and we could see the end of the headland so we left the marina bound for Figueira da Foz about 36 miles north. No sooner had we cleared the bay when the fog returned but we motored on with eyes on stalks looking for fishing marks to avoid. Around mid morning the sun started to appear and drove off the mist but it kept returning in banks. Mid afternoon we reached the bay to enter harbour which was shrouded in fog and did not see the harbour walls until we were within their encompassing arms. We crept up the river to the marina hoping no big ships were about to leave the port and berthed safely after 36 miles at sea. Figueira da Foz is a pleasant town with an excellent market and shops so it was no hardship to realise the weather would keep us here for at least the next four days. James Dick was able to visit the nearby city of Coimbra which we visited last time we passed down this coast. Coimbra was the ancient capital of Portugal and is now a beautiful university town. Pat and I walked the expansive beaches which were deserted in this weather but well kept and clean. Several boats had arrived  at Figueira and all waiting for the next weather window to go north. We befriended a couple on a Sadler 34 next to us who were uncertain whether to leave on the Friday which we predicted would be a short weather window. After four nights the Friday forecast was ok for the next 12 hours but was predicted to deteriorate again. We decided we could make Leixoes harbour near Porto, 65 miles north in that time and this would get James Dick to his flight out from Porto on Monday. The Sadler yacht named Locomotion had been reluctant to go because of their slower speed, but decided that morning to do it. The swell was still large at 3 metres as we left and we rolled our way out of the harbour and around the headland in clear but grey skies gradually lightening as the morning progressed. Locomotion had left 20 minutes before us at first light but we could not see their navigation lights anywhere. After one hour we checked with AIS the position of their yacht and noted that it was three miles behind us already and only making three knots. We do not know how we managed to overtake them without seeing them at all. After two hours we checked again and they were seven miles behind us still making three knots which made it unlikely they would get to Leixoes  before dark. As predicted the weather was good, a wind came up from our beam and we sailed well for a while in bright sunshine. We entered harbour exactly 10 hours after leaving having logged 65 miles.

The weather that evening deteriorated to rain and strong north westerly winds not two hours after we arrived. The short weather window was correct but we saw no sign of our friends following yacht and wondered where they could be in the now awful conditions. James Dick would fly out from here on the Monday and we could sit here and await the next weather window after that. Meanwhile we all travelled into the city of Porto on the bus and although the weather was windy and very cool, we enjoyed a day there. We took lunch in the restaurant of Taylor’s port, overlooking the city with fabulous views high above the rooftops. Our long walk to find it was soon forgotten when a fabulous meal was served accompanied with a selection of ports. Pat and I continued to wander the streets of the city after lunch even though the town was packed with tourists many of whom were there to watch some motorcycling event on the river frontage. 

We have sailed or motored 303 miles up the coast to this point and James Dick leaves us here to continue the coast whilst he flies home. We are unlikely to leave here in the next four days as strong northwesterly winds and large swells effect the coast, but a calmer spell is expected after that. We have still seen no sign of our friends yacht Locomotion and can only hope they returned to Figueira or managed to find shelter elsewhere.

Chris and Pat